Shikhar Dhawan explains the reason behind Sanju Samson's absence in the second India vs New Zealand ODI

Despite a more-than-decent knock in the series opener against New Zealand, Sanju Samson couldn’t crack into the playing eleven for the second contest of the series. With rain playing spoilsport, only 12 overs of cricket could happen and Team India seemed pretty well placed with Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav leading the charge.

However, a few questions were asked about why Sanju Samson had to endure the axe despite a pretty decent start to the series. India’s ODI skipper for the series Shikhar Dhawan clarified that it was only to accommodate an extra bowler in Deepak Hooda, a move solely intended to bolster India’s bowling ranks.

Dhawan said in a post-match interaction, “We wanted the sixth bowler to come in, so Sanju Samson missed out and Hooda came in. And Chahar was picked because he can swing the ball really well. A few of our guys are resting but this side is still strong, shows the depth of our squad.”

The Indian captain also talked at length about India’s approach to the game that was constantly interrupted by rain, adding, “Not in our control, you just have to wait. We were waiting to get the game started, can’t help it. Now looking forward to the 3rd game. I was quite surprised with the surface, I thought it would be seaming quite a bit, but it wasn’t as much as the last match. It was good to bat on and to see Shubman perform this way was very encouraging.”

India and New Zealand will be playing the final ODI at the Hagley Oval on Wednesday to decide the fate of the series. The Men in Blue walked away with the bragging rights in the shortest format of the game after a bizarre finish to a grandstand series, and will be hopeful of keeping things locked at an impasse as the finale looms on the cards.